The Swift Current Broncos have already recorded the biggest assist of the 2018 Memorial Cup.

Swift Current provided a huge boost to the looming event by winning the WHL title on Sunday — thereby earning a trip to Regina, where the CHL’s championship tournament is to begin Friday.

This is the rare Memorial Cup with two home teams. The Regina Pats will occupy the host’s spot, but the Broncos will also provide local flavour, along with the energy radiated by their fervent fans.

If there has been any lag in ticket sales, which could not have been spurred by the Pats’ first-round ouster at the hands of the Broncos, Swift Current will have addressed that void.

People are already salivating over the May 23 round-robin finale between Regina and Swift Current. The nature of the teams’ first-round matchup provides additional intrigue.

Although Swift Current went the distance in the WHL playoffs, its toughest challenge came in the first round. The Pats and Broncos played seven games, the last of which Swift Current won by one goal.

The Broncos proceeded to meet the Moose Jaw Warriors — the league’s top regular-season finisher — in a second-round series that also lasted seven games. However, Game 7 proved to be a laugher, with Swift Current winning 6-0 in Moose Jaw.

The Broncos then needed six games to oust the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Everett Silvertips. The final tally for Swift Current: A WHL-record 26 playoff games.

The Pats, by contrast, will see their hiatus extend to 45 days before they oppose the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs at the Brandt Centre on Friday.

Rust could be a factor in the initial stages, but how much did the layoff hurt the Windsor Spitfires? Windsor was a first-round playoff OHL casualty in 2017, only to eventually win the Memorial Cup as the host team.

As a bonus, the Pats will have two games in which to readjust to game speed before facing Swift Current — which boasts the best regular-season record of any Memorial Cup participant.

The CHL had three 50-win teams during the regular season. All three of them are out of the picture.

The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, whose 55-7-3-3 record was the best in major-junior hockey, were bounced by Hamilton (43-18-4-3) in the OHL final.

Moose Jaw (52-15-2-3) fell to Swift Current (48-17-5-2).

The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (50-11-4-3) advanced to the QMJHL final before losing to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (43-15-8-2).

Regina (40-25-6-1) has the worst record of the four Cup participants, but its season was front-loaded with frustration. Head coach and general manager John Paddock overhauled the roster after Christmas, with the result being that Regina was one of the league’s strongest teams down the stretch.

All things considered, this tournament is shaping up rather nicely for the Pats.

Three supposed powerhouses are gone. Regina’s one playoff series, a virtual saw-off with Swift Current, should instil confidence. Both eastern Canadian teams are strong, but hardly invulnerable (see: 43 wins).

If Duron Carter, Naaman Roosevelt and friends prove to be as wide-open as the 100th-anniversary Memorial Cup, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are destined for a banner year.

The Pats, for their part, require only a timely spasm of success in order to ultimately hang a championship banner at the Brandt Centre.

Although Swift Current is the deepest team in the Memorial Cup, Regina is not far off. The Pats and Broncos are the tournament’s leaders in firepower.

Consider that Antoine Morand led Acadie-Bathurst in scoring, with an unremarkable 76 points in 66 regular-season games.

St. Louis Blues first-rounder Robert Thomas paced Hamilton with 75 points, albeit in only 49 games. Four other members of the Bulldogs finished between 60 and 70 points.

The OHL and QMJHL champions are well-balanced, to be certain, but neither of them boasts an offensive threat who rivals Regina’s Sam Steel.

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